UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 
s\J?' < &-ru 
BULLETIN No. 511 
Joint Contribution from the Bureau of Plant Industry, WM. A. *Nst 
TAYLOR, Chief, and the Office of Farm Management, 
W. J. SPILLMAN, Chief 
Washington, D. C. 
PROFESSIONAL PAPER 
March 31, 1917 
FARM PRACTICE IN THE CULTIVATION OF COTTON. 
By H. R. Gates, 
Scientific Assistant, Office of Forage- Crop Investigations. 
CONTENTS. 
Page. 
Introduction 1 
General statements 3 
Sub-soiling 4 
Drainage 5 
Tillage before plowing 
Plowing 6 
Preparation after plowing 9 
Planting 10 
Normal averages of farm conditions 12 
The relation of crop rotations to crop yields.. 14 
The relation of tillage and price of land to 
crop yields 15 
Groups of cotton-growing areas 16 
General farm practices and conditions 17 
Survey in Pemiscot County, Mo 17 
Survey in the Mississippi Delta 21 
Survey in R obeson County, N. C 24 
Survey in Mecklenburg County, N. C . . . . 27 
Page. 
General farm practices and conditions— Con. 
Survey in Barnwell County, S. C 29 
Survey in Pike County, Ga 31 
Survey in Tift County, Ga 34 
Survey in G iles County, Tenn 36 
Survey in Bulloch County, Ga 3S 
Survey in St. Francis County, Ark 40 
Survey in Ellis County, Tex 43 
Survey in Chambers County, Ala 45 
Survey in Johnston County, Okla 47 
Surve3 T in Jefferson County, Fla 49 
Survey in Lincoln Parish, La 51 
Survey in Lavaca County, Tex 53 
Survey in Houston County, Tex do 
Survey in Monroe County, Miss 57 
Survey in Bexar County, Tex 59 
Summary 61 
INTRODUCTION. 
The data presented in this bulletin 2 represent the first step in a 
comprehensive study of farm tillage practice in the cultivation of 
cotton. In this study facts are presented as to what practices are 
actually employed by the average farmer in the various regions of 
the South. A study of these practices and the conditions under 
which they exist should be of value to cotton farmers and investi- 
gators in all regions where cotton is grown. 
In collecting these data it was found necessary to take into con- 
sideration many economic and even sociological factors which might 
1 This work was begun in the Office of Farm Management in 1914 when that office was a division -of the 
Bureau of Plant Industry and has been continued in the Office of Forage-Crop Investigations of the same 
bureau. 
2 Acknowledgment is due R. W; Pease for assistance rendered while collecting the data presented in 
this publication. 
70799°— Bull. 511—17 1 
